Jose Mourinho: Sacked Chelsea boss has 'gentleman's agreement' with Ed Woodward to become next Manchester United manager

Jose Mourinho remains confident he will replace Louis van Gaal at Manchester United and believes he has a "gentleman's agreement" with the club's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to become the next Red Devils manager. The Portuguese tactician is without a job since he was relieved of his managerial post at Chelsea last December and is heavily linked with the Old Trafford job since then.

United's season went from bad to worse when they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of FC Midtjylland in the Europa League last 32 tie. According to the Manchester Evening News, Woodward contacted the former Real Madrid manager's agent, Jorge Mendes, just hours after the last defeat, but no pre-contract agreement has been signed between Mourinho and United.

Van Gaal's future remains uncertain as there are reports suggesting that he could be shown the exit door before the end of the season. The sacked Chelsea boss's agent is working on helping his client land the United job this season. However, Woodward is reluctant to let the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager leave before the end of the season.

The executive vice-chairman has already sacked David Moyes just 10 months into his six-year contract. Sir Alex Ferguson selected the former Everton manager as his successor and he now wants Van Gaal's assistant Ryan Giggs to replace the Dutchman over Mourinho.

United's current manager's contract will run down at the end of the season. It looks unlikely that Van Gaal will have his current job beyond the upcoming summer transfer window as Mourinho is the firm favourite to replace him.